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No Name - Week 11
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Thanks, Hugh! I'm now trying to remember what my thoughts were on this section as I didn't write them down. I might just wait until the last section is posted and comment on the ending and entire book.
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I was impressed by Magdalen's dare and was wishing , almost praying for captain Wragge to reappear and save his pupil from irrevocable disaster.Then i couldn't stop and finished the book.
I finished the last three sections in fast succession. Things really picked up for me nearer to the end. I will wait for full book discussion before saying more.
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The chapter summaries follow (beware spoilers):
(view spoiler)[
BETWEEN THE SCENES
Miss Garth to Pendril: Norah has not stopped caring about Magdalen but has a new interest in George Bartram. Miss Garth likes him and thinks he is a true gentleman. She asks if he has heard anything of Magdalen.
Pendril to Miss Garth: He has heard nothing of Magdalen. He explains that George is effectively the heir to Noel’s fortune.
Admiral Bartram to Mrs Drake (his housekeeper): The arrangements for the new parlour maid needs to be altered because his niece Miss Girdlestone has died, so he will be absent for six weeks. If she can wait she can come to St Crux then.
Mrs Drake to Admiral Bartram: The young woman Louisa is prepared to wait. Sympathy for the Admiral’s loss.
SEVENTH SCENE
1. Mrs Drake shows the new maid her room at St Crux. Magdalen and the secret Trust are in the same house. Louisa has sailed for Australia and Magdalen has assumed her name. Louisa used the delay to continue Magdalen’s education as a servant and she has mastered everything. Once Mrs Drake has gone she dresses in a servant’s mourning gown. On the way down to the housekeeper’s room she passes two long corridors. On the ground floor she meets the old man who Wragge met at St Crux, he is the “admiral’s coxswain” and is known as Mazey. 60 years at sea and drink have lined his face. He has come to land with his Admiral. Mazey tells Magdalen she will please the admiral. The housekeeper tells her not to listen. Mrs Drake shows Magdalen the pantry and the linen room, then the dining room, where she must lay a table for the admiral. Mrs Drake watches her and is satisfied with her work. The soup is placed on the table and Magdalen waits behind the admiral’s chair. A bell rings and the old man enters with two Labradors, then sits. He says he will call her Lucy. Her mourning attire passes his inspection. He introduces the dogs, Brutus and Cassius. The next course arrives and the admiral continues to talk. Magdalen takes the covers off two dishes and the dogs take an interest. The admiral sends Magdalen to get bread, and gives the plates to the dogs. The next course confirm’s Magdalen’s suspicions of why the dogs are at the table. When she has put the dessert and wine on the table she starts to leave and the admiral stops her. He asks for a large wine glass and says he has a third dog. Mazey comes in. The admiral fills him a glass and raises a toast. Their talk is full of naval slang. Mazey departs, and the admiral asks “Lucy” to go downstairs, advising her to take a light supper. Next morning when he is out the admiral has asked her to learn where the bells are rung. Mrs Drake sends her out with a housemaid, who delegates to an under-housemaid, who suggests getting Mazey to help. They hear him singing a sea song. Magdalen finds him in a little room with the dogs. He decides to help her. He shows her a corridor and tells her its compass bearing. Once they have toured the first floor she asks him about the second but he pretends not to hear. She goes up alone to investigate. She sees a bed that seems to be occupied outside the master’s bedroom. Later Mrs Drake tells her that Mazey sleeps there. She finds Mazey and asks him. Later she asks the admiral who tells her not to be curious. Later she sees Mazey sleeping and his bed is blocking the admiral’s door.
2. After two weeks Magdalen has learned no more about the letter, but has realised she can ignore the hostility of the other servants. She doesn’t give them any reason to complain. At night she has a room to herself. She sees a Swiss newspaper left by the admiral with an marked article saying that a week after her master’s death Mrs Lecount returned to Zurich, stopping at St Crux on the way. The article says she has made a will which gives her money to charity. In the third week she discovers from Mazey that the admiral sometimes changes the wing he sleeps in. She has seen the admiral locking and unlocking desks and cupboards in the library. She has seen that he is very careful with his keys. By the fourth week she has learned nothing more. Both Mazey and the dogs disappear at times and return in disgrace. At the end of the fourth week the admiral gets a letter saying George will return the next day.
3. Magdalen hopes that George’s return will change the house’s sleepy routines. The dining room bell rings and the admiral and George appear together. Magdalen is struck by George’s resemblance to her father and makes a mistake which the admiral notices. George looks preoccupied but their conversation reveals nothing. After Magdalen leaves, George and the admiral talk. It is already late March and George’s marriage deadline is May 3rd. George asks if the admiral is serious about applying the Trust’s conditions, and tells him it would be out of character. The admiral has no sympathy for George’s inaction. George tells him he is ready to marry tomorrow “if the lady will have me”. He says the admiral may disapprove of his choice - Andrew Vanstone’s elder daughter. The admiral says he is right that he disapproves, and the reason is the younger sister’s behaviour. George tells him this is harsh on Miss Vanstone, who has behaved irreproachably. The admiral mentions the poison Magdalen had. George says he has put his impression of Miss Vanstone to a trial which she has passed, and says she is not responsible for her sister’s conduct, and says depriving him of a good wife would be further mischief. He says Miss Vanstone is the only woman he can marry. The admiral worries that only two weeks remain before the marriage banns must be published. He asks if George is engaged to Miss Vanstone, he says no, but she will probably accept. He asks if Miss Vanstone knows the conditions. George says he will spend a week at St Crux, but the admiral says he should leave tomorrow. He advises George to accept the invitation from Sir Franklin Brock, and see whether seeing Miss Brock will change his mind. George says he cannot be tempted that way. The admiral tells him that accepting the invitation is his condition for his approval of the marriage to Miss Vanstone. George accepts but says the experiment will fail. The next morning George leaves.
4. On the morning of George’s departure, Magdalen’s place at the breakfast table is empty. Mrs Drake goes to see her and tells her fresh air may help. Magdalen goes out and explores the old monastery in the gardens. She is miserable and looks at her hands, which she thinks are like an old woman’s. She hears birds and her mind starts to clear. She goes into a shed and finds a rusty key. She looks for more keys and finds five, and hides them in her room. In the evening the admiral looks depressed. The next day the admiral says he will spend a night in London. The evening passes before Magdalen finds a safe time to explore. She decides to try at 1130 p.m. Mazey’s bed is empty, and she hears him snoring in a room. She descends to the library. She manages to open a cabinet containing mineral samples and letters, but none of them are of interest, and none of the other locked places can be opened with her keys. The next day the admiral returns. Three days later George returns, talks with the admiral and departs immediately. Three days later a bell rings and Magdalen answers, eventually entering the drawing room and finding cold air. She decides to return from her room but as she is leaving sees the admiral entering from the opposite wing. Magdalen reminds him that the bell was rung and he tells her he wants coals. She suspects that the secret document may be in the east wing. She decides to investigate later that night. She waits until after midnight, descends and enters the banqueting hall. Eventually she reaches the east room, but she finds nothing there. She hears the drawing room, and sees a solitary figure approaching. It is the admiral, who is sleepwalking and addressing Noel, saying “Take it back”. He opens a cabinet and finds a letter, saying Take it Back Noel again. He locks the cabinet and crosses to the bureau and puts the letter there. Magdalen follows him to his room. Mazey’s bed is empty. The admiral goes to his bed, and Magdalen follows and takes his keys. She opens the bureau and finds the secret trust letter. She reads it, but then Mazey grabs her hand. He locks the letter back into the bureau. He threatens to lock her up but agrees to let her return to her room. He follows her and locks her in. Mazey returns to his bed troubled. He has spent the day getting the admiral’s slippers repaired and on returning drunk has seen lights in the east wing. He realises that he has deserted his post. He worries that if the admiral has been sleepwalking, the cold may kill him. Just before dawn Magdalen hears a key in her door. Mazey appears and says he wants to say something serious. He tells her he can’t be a witness against her, but will have to report the burglary. He says he will help her to escape on a cart that is about to leave, but without her possessions. She decides to agree to leave, and to consult Loscombe on the meaning of the letter. They go out and Mazey helps her into the cart. As she leaves she hears Mazey muttering what a fine grown girl she is and what a pity it is.
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